I recently read in the news about a story involving Harry Potter. The story wasn't about the actors who portrayed the characters and it wasn't about a new conspiracy story about the original books. The story involved a group of individuals who had decided to dissect the books using pod casts so carefully they were dubbed, "Harry Potter and the Sacred Texts."
The article went on to mention the most requested book following the Holy Bible and the Qur'an in Guantanamo Bay is the Harry Potter series. A fictional book detailing a world of magic and an unlikely hero. A relate-able nerdy individual with all the character traits and flaws we find in ourselves. I found it to be a great read in my youth. However I never thought to use it as a guiding light in, for a lack of better term, religious or holy text setting.
This thought led me the think....What drives people to religion? Why do people desire something to give them their moral code? What is it humans intrinsically lack to be able to make their OWN moral code from simply their own personal life experiences?
What drives people to religion?
It is a loaded question. I mean you ask anyone, what brought you to your god or form of worship, and you will get a plethora of answers. Some are searching for moral direction. Some are looking for community. Some use it as a lifeline to understand their existence and place in this world. Some seek it for reasons I couldn't begin to imagine. People give every reason possible for choosing to go to religion. There are some who say religion or a divine being chooses them. I'm not a theologian so I can't give the deeper meanings behind religion. My extent of studying religion in an academic sense extends to an intro to religion for my humanities credit in college. What I can say is I feel religion gives people a rock or a center outside oneself. The reason religion is about "more" is to prevent the all encompassing feeling of loneliness that invades when people are alone.
That doesn't really answer the core question. So to begin with, there is a need for a guiding set of principles in order to make ANY decision in life. When a child makes a decision they use the guiding principles they have been taught thus far to make decisions.
Why do you ask? Well if you think about all the logical reasons:
The child is now going to adopt the same morals for likely the same reasons if the parent explains why you don't draw on walls. However often, which I feel happens with great frequency, parents will say, "We don't draw on walls, that's a 'no no'. We don't want to make mommy and daddy's walls all dirty. We draw on paper. "
Yet is that the correct moral? There are humans that make a living DRAWING ON WALLS. So then your reasoning is flawed...and lacks logic since the child is bound to see murals at some point in his or her life. If you are going to say no drawing on the walls try to explain in the best terms the child will understand the real reasons behind it. If nothing else, "If you draw on the walls Mommy and Daddy have to spend money on paint and not toys." Something the child understands and also directly impacts them. (Granted you may have to wait until the child is slightly older than two for them to be able to understand some of the morals, but children are MUCH smarter than people credit them. That is a whole other blog post)
Why do people desire an external moral code?
Morals and ethics are rules that I feel people begin to develop slowly overtime. Of course each person follows their own unique moral compass, but people base that compass on outside influences.That doesn't really answer the core question. So to begin with, there is a need for a guiding set of principles in order to make ANY decision in life. When a child makes a decision they use the guiding principles they have been taught thus far to make decisions.
Example: If you have a two year old child and you teach the child that coloring something with a crayon makes it pretty. Then you teach the child that pretty is a positive trait. If the child then colors on the walls, it is because they are using all the logic and reasoning they have available to them at this moment in time. In essence it was both moral and logical to them that coloring on the walls of the house with crayon is a good action.In the example above you will notice that a parent who discovers crayon marks on the wall will teach the child drawing on walls is bad.
Why do you ask? Well if you think about all the logical reasons:
- The extra work and money the parent feels is needed to repaint the surface
- The resell value on the home is diminished if the parent doesn't repaint because someone else will feel the need to paint over the marks
- The embarrassment of having a wall look "dirty"
- The possible judgment of other parents that they don't "control" their child
- The parent not wanting the child to think drawing on walls is okay so when they visit other households the child doesn't draw on the walls
The child is now going to adopt the same morals for likely the same reasons if the parent explains why you don't draw on walls. However often, which I feel happens with great frequency, parents will say, "We don't draw on walls, that's a 'no no'. We don't want to make mommy and daddy's walls all dirty. We draw on paper. "
Yet is that the correct moral? There are humans that make a living DRAWING ON WALLS. So then your reasoning is flawed...and lacks logic since the child is bound to see murals at some point in his or her life. If you are going to say no drawing on the walls try to explain in the best terms the child will understand the real reasons behind it. If nothing else, "If you draw on the walls Mommy and Daddy have to spend money on paint and not toys." Something the child understands and also directly impacts them. (Granted you may have to wait until the child is slightly older than two for them to be able to understand some of the morals, but children are MUCH smarter than people credit them. That is a whole other blog post)
Why do humans lack the ability to make their own internal moral code?
The short answer? They don't lack the ability. Every person does have an internal moral code that drives them everyday. I think that the moral code they follow is to be self-serving. Following that train of thought you realize that all human behavior is rational relative to their life experiences, thought process, and genetic capabilities. I will grant you of course some people have chemical problems within their brain that cause their patterns to be a bit more erratic or for them to be unable to go through a decision properly.
I say humans are self-serving, every one of us, because even the kindest person is self-serving. The reason so many charities exist is not because these people couldn't make a system where they help people while turning a profit, or they could help people while being self sustaining. Charities serve society as guilt alleviation vehicles. You give to charity because you want to feel good, you want to help, and you feel the reason they are asking for money is a good one.
A simple act of human kindness can keep someone from becoming a dictator when they grow up, steer a thief away from a life of crime, or be the memory someone hangs onto throughout their whole life when times are tough. Kindness takes no money, usually very little time, and can be given every day.
What do I believe in, if not religion?
I try to keep my moral compass as straight forward as possible. Do your best to not harm others whenever possible. Laws, human interactions, and every other aspect of society could be improved with that simple rule. I believe in straight forward simplicity. Make knowledge and resources accessible to everyone. Not in the communist sense, but in the average American working hard sense.A simple act of human kindness can keep someone from becoming a dictator when they grow up, steer a thief away from a life of crime, or be the memory someone hangs onto throughout their whole life when times are tough. Kindness takes no money, usually very little time, and can be given every day.
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